Approaching the elevator, Liam's mind began to race.
--
'EVO, huh. What the hell am I getting into with this?'
With his hand held to his forehead, those were the only words on his mind. He wondered if Yvette knew all about this already, and wondered if he was even allowed to ask.
'God dammit…'
-----------------------------
----
Wordlessly, Liam was back down to his office within minutes, ready to begin looking into the work he had planned out for him. It had to have been an hour since he was last there.
"--Liam, you in there?" a voice called out.
"--Eh?"
With a swift entry with no regard for privacy, Yvette and her bright yellow aura came flooding into Liam's office, leaving almost no space for him to walk around.
"What's up?"
"Just making sure you got back from your meeting with the President in time."
"Well, thanks for the concern."
--
"--I'm actually headed out early today… and you should, too." Yvette said.
Her voice was filled with apprehension and distress. Her emotionless face and her voice told two completely different stories.
"--You alright, Yvette?"
"--Eh... oh. Yeah, things are alright. It's just, I don't think I saw anyone else here, I think we all got messages to get home early."
"Oh, you sure? Didn't you say people came in early though? Like, people with nameless faces."
Yvette paused for a moment, not changing her expression at all.
"--Nobody's here. I haven't seen any in their offices. I recall them, but I check over and over again, and I have nobody listed as present except for you."
Liam stared blankly with uneasiness with Yvette's statement. It was something he surely didn't want to hear, but wanted to know more about.
"Is your head alright? That doesn't sound normal."
"--It should be fine...Just please head out when you can."
Liam was undoubtedly hesitant to just listen to Yvette. Having only been here an hour, it felt like a waste for Liam to just leave, but Yvette's genuine sound of fear made the choice easier for him.
"Sure, just give me a few minutes, you can head out on your own."
"Sure… see you then." Yvette said, slowly pacing outside of Liam's door.
--
'The only one here is the President, and myself.'
"Hell no." Liam said audibly.
It was something he hardly wanted to consider, being that Kensuke still gave Liam a feeling of intimidating superiority, as well as concerning mystery.
Without speaking, Liam left his office, heading down toward the endless hallways to take his leave.
-------------------------------
----
----
The day was still new. Pedestrians -- not ones from the work rush, were out walking as if everything in life was normal.
Liam, in a pit of doubt, wished he could feel the same way.
"Blue, green, blue."
'Everything looks normal.' Liam thought to himself. With the events he learned today, he couldn't help but feel light headed.
"Blue, blue, purple, grey."
As Liam walked along the pavement, he found an eerie comfort in saying the names of the colors he saw. Sounding them out to himself, he walked in peace without talking to anyone but himself.
"Blue, blue, grey, purple, green, grey."
"Wh--." Liam said, cutting himself off.
"Grey, grey, blue, green, purple, orange."
Liam felt a pit in his stomach and a chill in his head. Having seen something he hadn't seen before, it was natural.
The people around Liam, some had no color -- the same as Liam. In the twenty seven years of his life that he could remember, not once had he seen someone with no color.
"What...What the hell?"
"Green, grey, grey, grey, purple…"
--
*THUD*
I gigantic thud hit Liam's head from the inside. Nothing had even grazed him, but he felt as though his head was hit by a truck.
--
Liam felt like he could vomit at any moment. Within seconds, a familiar feeling came upon him. The feeling of tunnel vision, a knife-like feeling in his head that made him want to pass out.
Young whispers saying nothing he could audibly sound out penetrated his ears from all around.
"--Grey...Blue....Grey...Grey…"
--
*SNAP*
In the heat of the current moment of pain he felt, Liam pulled back his index finger. The piercing sound of a bone breaking filled the air around him.
It really was scary how little people in this day and age cared about others around them.
"--Liam…" A voice called out. It was a familiar deep, feminine voice that overtook the whispers he was unable to get out from his head.
'You...from the dream…? What the fuck are you…" Liam spoke slowly. It was the first time he could remember that he uttered words with a tear in his eyes.
"--Tell me." the disembodied voice replied.
"--You're so young, yet you have a mind akin to a psych ward. Why is that?"
--
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
"Grey…"
They were the only words Liam could muster. Within seconds of the question he was asked, the feeling of pain immediately left his body. His vision returned to normal, though something was missing.
--
"Their auras…"
"--They're gone."
--
Upon coming to his realization, Liam collapsed onto the pavement. As he fell, he tried to prop himself onto a wall, but to no avail.
Liam attempted calling for help, yet it was also to no avail.
--
Beauty in color. It was something Liam had realized not long ago in his life. His younger years were spent with envy of the world for being able to interpret life in its entirety -- a colorful world.
Color as a sense of identity. It was something he felt daily. His lack of identity in the world truly made Liam feel alien. He wasn't black, nor grey, nor white. He was colorless, with no aura to be seen in his person.
Of course, it was entirely possible that his aura was just invisible to him, though to know for sure would be to find someone else with the ability to see auras, which was impossible.
"No...No...No! There's got to be some way...Some way to fix this. Any way possible…I'll take it!" Liam yelled.
His words were wobbly, and his speech was slurred and frantic. Liam's head sweating was met with tears falling from his eyes.
"It's my only connection...I have nothing else!"
"Nothing…"
As he stared into the city. He saw grey buildings, grey roads, and pedestrians with nothing but a grey color. They were cold, empty. Nothing shined from them. Liam and the pedestrians were equal.
It was as if the soul that was bound to them was ripped from their body instantly. He hadn't been able to pinpoint when it happened, but it all began with the words of the deep feminine voice that pierced his ears.
In a dull, grey, world with no beauty, Liam had stood up. It was the moment that Liam had learned he lost something with more importance than anything else in his life.
--Liam had lost all color.
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